Algorithms

Every single computer device you have used has run on algorithms. All the way from calculators to computers. They run algorithms to tell it how to do whatever it is doing.

Computers are required to manipulate, move, and look through immense amounts of data as quickly as they can. To do this, they use algorithms to process data. It doesn’t matter how much information it has to look through, the device will be able to process all of it if it has a working algorithm.

Algorithms involve coming up with a set of step-by-step instructions or rules to follow in order to solve a problem. It is a type of plan that you put together after having gone through all other options and found them to be lacking. This plan must have a starting point, instructions and an explicit finishing point. The instructions it contains must be detailed, specific and clear, concise, and free of mistakes. Students need to ensure that when someone follows their algorithm, they can do so without any input from others – this emphasises the need for them to be precise and unambiguous. It also outlines the difference between an algorithm and an informal set of instructions that may require insight in order to follow.

This core concept highlights the importance of specific and concise instructions that can not be misinterpreted. Students need to understand that algorithms must provide an accurate sequence, or order of events. When an algorithm is run or followed, it needs to give the same outcome every single time.

Students will also discover that there is no one correct algorithm for a problem. In fact there are many different ways to write an algorithm to solve a problem, but some are much better than others. It could be that an algorithm is shorter to write, quicker to run the code, or a combination of both.

This key concept is found in all levels of digital technologies, in fact it is one of the first core concepts to be taught, and it is found within the Computational Thinking learning area.